How to Cut a Mango

Every time I eat a mango I think of my friend, Leslie. She used to eat mangoes when it was rainy and dreary out because she said they reminded her of a sunset. I think that is a great visual to use when you are shopping for mangoes. Try and find one that has a variety of red, green, and orange colors.

Mango - the fruit. Not to be confused with Mango Fashion.

Mangos have a large, flat, oval-shaped pit that cause a lot of problems for people when they try to cut it. It is easier to see the shape of the pit when you stand the mango up in its end and look at it from the top.

Top view of a mango. In this image, the "flesh" of the mango is on the top and bottom of the stem.

Slice the mango as close to the stem as possible. The goal is to run your knife along the side of the pit in one fail swoop.

You may run into the pit the first few times you do this. It gets easier with practice!

Repeat on the other side.

You can get a little more flesh if you remove the sides of the mango from the pit. This part of the mango can sometimes be stringy so many people don’t go through this step. Since mangos are expensive, I like to get all the flesh I can out of them!

Side of the mango.

Slice the sides off in the same fashion as above. Place your knife as close to the stem as possible and cut straight down until you feel the pit. Using the pit as a guide, run your knife along the side of the pit.

The sides of this particular mango were not stringy at all. Score!

It may appear that there is a lot of flesh left on the pit above, but there really isn’t. That is pretty typical of the way a mango will look after you cut it.

Slice the mango in strips, then dice.

Slice the mango in strips, run your knife along the skin to remove the flesh from the skin, and dice.

Ta da!

Your mango is now ready to be eaten alone or in a fruit salad. Add it to stir fry as a cool compliment to a spicy sauce. Or, try one of these recipes.